Connectivity Issues From a New User

[HighInquisitorTremayne]

Hi all,

New user here looking to make the switch from roll20 to FG. I've been running games on a VTT for about the past 10 years starting with maptools and moving onto roll20. I only did some cursory research, but as I like to dig into the nuts and bolts of something I made the leap and purchased the ultimate license with the core D&D 5e books. But, once I realized FG was a hosted program similar to maptools, I started to freak out. I had constant connectivity issues with maptools which is why I eventually made the switch to roll20. My fears about using FG are compounded because my job takes me all over the world with various internet speeds and reliability. Currently I have ~9mbps down and ~9mbps up. This can drastically fluctuate from minute to minute and sometimes drop down to 1mbps. I also understand that FG operates best with low-res images of <1mb, and minimal sharing of images, which is also worrisome.

So my questions are:
- I can reduce image sizes no problem, but are there then resolution images within the app? Meaning, with maps of size less than 1mb, I assume they are pixilated and blurry most of the time?
- Is 9mbps sufficient speed for running games? What about with a total of say 10mb of shared images?
- Is there a recommended "allowance" of size of shared images? Like, would you only recommend sharing only 3mbs of images at any given time?
- For example, I currently have 552 mbs of images stored in my roll20 account. How do you manage that in FG?
- I've already be tinkering around with it and had my ISP forward the port, but are there other connectivity issues I should be on the look out for as a newb?

I like what I have seen so far, and a VTT is critical to keeping gaming going for me, so just hoping it all works out. Trying to get my current players to do a test run.

Also, bonus question, anyone play in China? I'm moving there in a couple of years and obviously the internet usage/availability is a big concern.

Thanks!

[LordEntrails]

First, yes images of less than 1mb in file size are important, when it comes to sharing them, not when it comes to using them during a game. You can pre-load images so that your players can connect before game time and download any new images you have so that they don't have to do this during the game itself. Are images blurry... Well, regardless of the image size, what matters most is image resolution. Typically images are 50 pixels per square and less than 2048x2048 pixels resolution. So it depends on how far you zoom in. I mean if you use a 2048x2048 full screen on a 4k screen, then you are pretty close to one pixel per screen pixel. But if you zoom in so that you are looking at a 5 foot square (50 pixels) on a full screen 4k screen, then yea, it will be pixelated. I suggest you look at some games in process on Twitch and you can see what you think; https://www.twitch.tv/raithath https://www.twitch.tv/dulux_oz https://www.twitch.tv/rob2e

9mbs is fine, if you plan for it. Like I said, if you can pre-load images so the players can download prior to game time. You can also make a player cache on your local machine and share it via a cloud storage prior to game as well. But, that's not very common anymore because of its much easy to just mark images for pre-load and have your players log in prior to the game to get the update.

"Allowance"... Well, FG doesn't work quite that way. When an image is shared, the first time a player connects they download it. Then they don't need to download it again since it is kept in their local cache. Their is an issue in terms of how many images should be shared with your players at any given time. But it has to do with image resolution and operating system (32 bit or 64), not file size.

You would manage all your images by placing them in different modules. Then you can share and unshare the images in bulk. Since you don't "store" your images in FG (like you do in Roll20) then you can use any image you have stored on your computer. You just don't want to have them all shared with your players at the same time (as mentioned above).

If you pass the connectivity test, then don't worry about it.

Now, if you travel a lot, and spend times in hotels and such you may have situations where you can't get the port forwarded (either manually or through automatic protocol) so you might want to look into a VPN service. Then your players would always connect to the VPN address and you would just log into your VPN. There are several folks around here who do that for the same reasons.

[damned]

Hi all,

New user here looking to make the switch from roll20 to FG. I've been running games on a VTT for about the past 10 years starting with maptools and moving onto roll20. I only did some cursory research, but as I like to dig into the nuts and bolts of something I made the leap and purchased the ultimate license with the core D&D 5e books. But, once I realized FG was a hosted program similar to maptools, I started to freak out. I had constant connectivity issues with maptools which is why I eventually made the switch to roll20. My fears about using FG are compounded because my job takes me all over the world with various internet speeds and reliability. Currently I have ~9mbps down and ~9mbps up. This can drastically fluctuate from minute to minute and sometimes drop down to 1mbps. I also understand that FG operates best with low-res images of <1mb, and minimal sharing of images, which is also worrisome.

So my questions are:
- I can reduce image sizes no problem, but are there then resolution images within the app? Meaning, with maps of size less than 1mb, I assume they are pixilated and blurry most of the time?
- Is 9mbps sufficient speed for running games? What about with a total of say 10mb of shared images?
- Is there a recommended "allowance" of size of shared images? Like, would you only recommend sharing only 3mbs of images at any given time?
- For example, I currently have 552 mbs of images stored in my roll20 account. How do you manage that in FG?
- I've already be tinkering around with it and had my ISP forward the port, but are there other connectivity issues I should be on the look out for as a newb?

I like what I have seen so far, and a VTT is critical to keeping gaming going for me, so just hoping it all works out. Trying to get my current players to do a test run.

Also, bonus question, anyone play in China? I'm moving there in a couple of years and obviously the internet usage/availability is a big concern.

Thanks!

Welcome HighInquisitorTremayne

Im in AUS and for years I ran games on 4mbps down and about 0.5mbps up.
Image pixel count is ore important than image byte count.
Byte count impacts how long it takes to share the images with players
Pixel count impacts how much memory is used.
The recommendations are to aim for < 1mb and 2048x2048px but these are not hard limits.
The hard limit is 3.3gb RAM on a 64bit windows OS and images do take up more RAM than you might expect.

I personally create non map images under 1200x1200px - they are just fluff.
A map that might be used often and for a long time might be above these sizes or cut into smaller chunks.
If you share lots of images then you will need to periodically unshare those no longer needed.
Dont share adventure modules, monster manuals or any other DMs reference - only share player handbooks and individual items.

Your data is all stored on your own computer so you can store as much as your HDD can hold.

China can be hit and miss... there are a smaller number of China based players - of course everywhere is smaller in player count than the US.

[HighInquisitorTremayne]

Thanks all! very much appreciated for the lengthy responses. Seems like this will work out after all! I am doing some test runs with my players over the next 30 days so we can decide if we want to make the final leap.

Thanks again!

Although, I am not really looking forward to going through my thousands of tokens and hundreds of maps to make sure they are at operable dimms for FG, but, oh well...

[HighInquisitorTremayne]

One other question. Is there a difference between characters created in the Character Manager and characters created in the campaign?

[Andraax]

One other question. Is there a difference between characters created in the Character Manager and characters created in the campaign?

No.

[Myrdin Potter]

I lived in China and still travel there quite often. You are almost 100% certain to need a VPN with PureVPN being the suggested solution.